Presidential Election Mailers Can Get Ugly

Messages based on fear have been getting out via mailers lately. The Republican Party of Virginia has sent out an ad that says "American must look evil in the eye and never flinch." It features an almost unrecognizable picture of Osama bin Laden, in which the skin is darker, the beard lighter, and the nose covered by words. Obama supporters worry that the Virginia GOP, whose chair compared Obama to Osama bin Laden recently, manipulated the picture to resemble Barack.

Over in North Carolina, the Republican National Committee sent residents a controversial mailer. On a page next to a prominent white hand with its hand over its heart, are the words "It used to be easy to recognize patriotism."

And perhaps the most blatantly inappropriate, and most obscure, anti-Obama pamphlet comes from the Chaffey Community Republican Women Federated in Southern California. The group sent a newsletter to 200 members, which contained an image of Barack Obama surrounded by a bucket of KFC chicken, watermelon, ribs, and Kool Aid, with the words: "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on????? Food Stamps, what else!"

Are critics of these ads being overly sensitive, or is there reason for concern? Can these attitudes impact the election, or will there always be extreme, yet inconsequential, fringe groups.

I also think these 527 ads are out of control. They have right to speak their piece however what they either fail to realize or simply don't care is that their sentiment is going to be attached to the candidate of their choice. I've noticed especially on the liberal side nasty negative ads aimed at the Iraq War, President Bush, Sen. McCain etc. and the consequence of their ugliness being attributed to Sen. Obama.
The man has enough burden on his shoulders why be so ignorant as to make his job even harder. Make your point but make it in a way that he (or visa versa McCain) doesn't have to be burdened with defending your choice of language because you support them.

If you think otherwise then you just created in your head the BIGGEST conspiracy ever executed that would include the government, the state of Hawaii, and too many people and officials to contemplate...spanning a time frame of Obama's entire life!!!
Nonsense.

Are we seriously to believe that when he applied for his passport, was elected to the Illinois Senate, served for 8 years, ran for the US Senate, was given his clearance for that position, and now has run for the presidency.. that he was NEVER vetted or investigated by the government knowing his history and upbringing. Its not exactly a secret that he was on that board. :OY:
They obviously never found him to be a threat. They obviously found that his birth certificate was genuine.
If you think otherwise then you just created in your head the BIGGEST conspiracy ever executed that would include the government, the state of Hawaii, and too many people and officials to contemplate.
This is all a scare tactic that is working..a vicious smear tactic and quite honestly being a black man running for president was a risk for assassination already. Now a good portion of the country thinks he is a dangerous evil terrorist loving Islamic Muslim socialist whose only goal is to destroy the America they love and would die for... good luck to you Obama and your security team! God Bless you and keep you safe man!

What is confusing is the sentiment shown between these two men.. like at the dinner last night.. where McCain said how much he admired Obama and all of his accomplishments and what an honor it has been to run against him and share the stage.. vs who is he?? be afraid scare tactics that an alarming portion of the country is buying 100% to the point of being possibly dangerous.
Like the lady that said this is a christin country what will happen to this country if he is President? Or the guy calling him the n word, or the many many people who genuinely think he is a terrorist and hangs around terrorists and wants to push a terrorist agenda in the US.
WTF?

"Not to mention celebrities entering the fray (did anyone else hear Sarah Bernhardt racist comment about Palin getting raped)" When did rape become racist, isn't that sexist? That was an awful thing for her to say, harm should be wished upon noone.
But Damon and Madonna making fun of Palin about dinosaurs can't be compared to liking Barack Obama to Osama and putting his face on food stamps with chicken and kool aid.

what a difference 8 years makes, in 2000 mccain called them 'hate calls' wonder what he thinks of them now? should he lose i really think he reputation is tarnished beyond repair, all the things he railed against 8 years ago he is okaying this year to get to the white house.

wow.
I just heard those robo calls and, as sad as it is, I do think that McCain would be a part of this. Without the robo calls (even though Palin and MAC have said bad thigns about him before) its hard to believe that he would approve something like this. But I guess when you get desperate....

The ad with Osama's eyes only and the ad picturing Barack as a Barackadonkey surrounded by fried chicken, ribs and kool-aid are so outrageously racist. If you're going to use a photo of Osama Bin Laden than show his whole face. What that photo suggests whether it be subtle or not is that we should be afraid of brown faced people. The other plays on every deep rooted African American stereotypes. It's just stupid and appalling to me.
Now for those of you who would say wait a minute what about some of these liberal ads well line'm up I'll call them stupid and appalling too.

Comparing Barack to Osama Bin Laden. Creating a food stamp with Obama on it, along with fried chicken, watermelon, and kool-aid. Unlike most people posting I do place part of the blame on McCain and Palin. Palin questions his patriotism everyday on the campaign trail. She says Obama "pals around with terrorists". McCain asks "who is the real Barack Obama". Robo calls saying Obama associates with terrorists. McCain's campaign has created the atmosphere that allows the racist and hate filled people to flourish.

Please refer to my post - #13. These are not flyers, granted. But, there is lots of infamatory stuff out there about the Repub ticket that has nothing to do with policies. Not to mention celebrities entering the fray (did anyone else hear Sarah Bernhardt racist comment about Palin getting raped, Madonna, Matt Damon saying she didn't believe in dinosaurs...?).
In terms of others pointing out that the Repubs are condemming these attacks - I'm seeing lots of conservatives saying these things are awful. Are you reading all the posts?"
Yes i am reading all the post...and i am seeing conservatives saying the same things...this has nothing to do with D's or R's..these types of attacks are nasty. I said it already...not to say that the attacks on Palin and McCain arent bad because they are but honestly. To be called stupid because of things you say is not right but...
I was going to say something but i just realize that i'd be repeating myself. Again its gotten out of hand...its disgusting and i'll leave it at that.

in relation to this article, i find it sooo disgusting that grown adults act like this. and where is john mccain repudiating, like he said he has done many times at the debate. i havent heard one peep out of his campaign about the out right racist 'obama bucks' and comparing obama and osama. even when he was asked about the last one and was read the ENTIRE quote, he still said that he needed the context of the quote. the mccain campaign is becoming such a joke and i cant wait til its all over.

i dont know if any of you guys watch hardball but tonight rep. michelle bachmann of MN went on a tear about how anti-american obama and his wife are. she also thinks the media should go through EVERY democratic member of the house and senate to see if any of them harbor anti-american sentiments. this lady is nuts and hopefully will be voted out come nov. 4th. i thought america had gone through this era of mcarthyism back in the day and had somewhat gotten over it. apparently rep bachmann still loves the guilt by association.

"They DID serve on a board together, and that board was overseeing an effort to put into place Ayer's educational strategies (teaching children political activism rather than their ABC's). THAT'S what raises my eyebrows."
The board's sole purpose was not about placing Ayer's strategies in schools - tht board included a diverse political group, including Ray Romero, the President of Ameritech; Stanley Ikenberry, the former President of the University of Illinois; and Republican Arnold Weber, who had served in the Nixon White House.
Arnold Weber-- Republican. Donated to John McCain. Worked with William Ayers
The Chicago Annenberg Challenge was funded by a foundation belonging to Walter Annenberg, the billionaire Republican philanthropist who served as Richard M. Nixon's ambassador to the U.K. Annenberg and his wife, Leonore, gave the CAC $50 million in the 90's.
The Annenbergs-- Republicans. Bankrolled William Ayers with $50 million?
They were also giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican National Committee and various other Republican groups, as well as to a whole host of Republican candidates, including the following:
George W. Bush $4000
Mitt Romney $5000
Strom Thurmond $1000
Fred Thompson $500
Rick Santorum $3000
So Kranky, do you think the Annenberg Foundation is so stupid that it didn't consider who was on the boards it was lavishing money on?

About Ayers - yes the relationship has been looked at ad naseum. I seriously doubt we are going to find that Obama had him has a pen pal when he was 8.
There is something that does bother me about Obama's relationship with Ayers though. They DID serve on a board together, and that board was overseeing an effort to put into place Ayer's educational strategies (teaching children political activism rather than their ABC's). THAT'S what raises my eyebrows.